The Director’s Chair | March 2020

We are in the midst of an unprecedented time in world history in dealing with the global pandemic of COVID-19. I know you are making decisions at your churches regarding events and attendance, as we are at the Conference Centers. We will have already sent out an email to you and posted on our social media sites by the time you receive this e-newsletter, but we wanted to do our best to communicate all of this information.

In light of the CDC’s recommendations concerning social distancing, and their strong encouragement to not gather in groups larger than 10 people, and with a heartfelt concern for the well-being of all of our potential guests, we will be closing the Falls Creek and Crosstimbers campuses through May 1^st. We will be making and communicating decisions regarding the summer by that date.

Here is what this will mean for you:

• We will not be allowing any groups to stay on grounds through May 1^st.
  • This will include groups who have rented your cabin, so you will need to let any groups, with whom you have contracted to occupy your facility between now and May 1^st that they will not be allowed to stay on grounds.
• We will not host any overnight guests in our lodging facilities.
• You CAN have an individual or a workgroup smaller than 10 people come and work on your cabin, as we will allow you access to your facility, but we are requesting that individuals and/or groups not stay overnight to accomplish any work tasks that need to be done. If you think this will be an issue, you can call me to discuss your particular situation.
  • The Falls Creek office will be open Monday-Saturday, 9:00am-5:00pm.
  • If you do have individuals to come to work on your cabin, you should note that we are locking down all our facilities and restroom access will be limited to your cabin.
  • Also, all people will need to access Falls Creek via the high road. We will be closing the black metal gate at Prices Falls in order to limit the access on campus to just the main gate.

We are expecting and hopeful to host summer camps as usual. Outside of the CDC’s recommendations and our desire to protect you as individuals, we feel it is vitally important to do all we can to insure our campus is as unaffected by this virus as possible, so that our summer events can be successfully carried out.

On a completely different note, Falls Creek has become aware of a risk of electrical fires that could potentially result from the failure of FPE (Federal Pacific Electric) breakers and switch boxes. These breakers were manufactured between the 1950s and the 1990s and have been known during power surges, to fail to trip. We have taken inventory of all of our facilities and are currently in the process of replacing any and all FPE breakers in buildings owned by the Conference Centers. You might consider examining your cabin and replacing any FPE breakers it might contain. Our insurance company was very straightforward about making us aware of the coverage issues associated with having any FPE breakers. I am sharing this information with you as a matter of safety and ethical responsibility.

Thank you for your understanding in these matters. We will continue in prayer with you for our people, our camp, and our nation.

Blessings,

Andy Harrison